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Friday, June 23, 2006

Hit Me Baby One More Time, or the Moroonmies

From Britney Spearmint, I ended up viewing the work of a Kathryn Coman, who took some time listing the sons and daughters of Sun Myung Moon, including Hyun Jin Nim. Apparently genealogy and family are as important for the Unification Church as they are for the Latter Day Saints. Here's what religioustolerance.org has to say:

51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

But Hyun Jin Moon marches to the beat of a different drummer. Here are excerpts from a speech he gave in December 2005:

[M]aybe it's good to talk about the "ideal family." When you talk about the topic of ideal family, in that, you can find the root of peace. In that, you can find true love. In that, you can find true life. In that, you can find true lineage....

Regardless of what one has, if there is no object figure to rejoice in that those individuals. In other words, human beings, by definition, cannot find happiness in themselves. They find happiness through others.

Especially, parent and child relationship is a very good example. Do you think children are born into this world not wanting to be filial sons and daughters? Or they eventually go their own paths for some other reasons? Same with parents. Don't you think when parents bring children into this world; they want to show the kind of love that gives the children the nurturing, so they become filial sons and daughters? Yes or no? Yes. The way the parent-child relationship is such that through love. Children want to become filial sons and daughters because they feel the love of the parents, and vice versa: As children give filial piety back to their parents, then the parents feel fulfilled. And therefore, both parent and child feel validated in that relationship.

Same thing with husband and wife. The husband says, "Oh, I am the man! I am the subject position. You have to listen to me!" Or, woman says, "Well, the society says that you as a man have to serve me as a woman. Especially if you come from the west, you have to open the door for me." If you place those conditions on each other, do you think you'll have a harmonious relationship or you'll be constantly bickering and fighting amongst yourselves? What do you think? Constantly bickering.

The way to peace then, within all these relationships -- would it be parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister -- is to live for the sake of others. Recognizing that validation of my life, the validation of all that I can contribute, comes from others, and by living for their sake, I bring about the validation in their lives, and vice versa. Then my life gets validated. A family that strives to live under that paradigm will find peace. A family that strives to live under that paradigm will have true love as the cornerstone of which that family can grow. Amen, no-men? ("Amen!") Because what is true love? True love is living for the sake of others....

In the Garden of Eden, God wanted to substantiate, in His first family, an ideal family centered upon true love, substantiating true life -- those individuals who are practicing true love. Many times we talk about true love but we do not practice it! That is the problem. How you substantiate true life is in the practice and the living of true love. That means in the living for the sake of others. This becomes not just something that I say, but it becomes who I am, what I am. Then you can say that man or woman who lives for the sake of others, who strives to live for we r the sake of others, is a man or a woman who has substantiated true life.

Now as that man or woman who has substantiated true life has been blessed by God, then that man and woman can create a substantial family of true love, and thereby substantiate true lineage....

"Therefore satanic life energy emerges from us. This means we need to change our blood lineage. Before receiving the Blessing, we went through the Holy Wine Ceremony. Through this ceremony, we were born again into God’s pure lineage and then we received the blessing...Blessing then means that we change the satanic false lineage and receive the blessing of the true lineage through True Parents....Therefore, we need True Parents in order to receive God’s heavenly pure lineage." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p.6.)

"We have different blood from that of our True Parents. As we were born within the satanic realm, our blood lineage is different from that of True Parents." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The World of Shimjung Culture and the Blessing", Today’s World, March. 1995, p. 21).

"It is the blessing that binds us to the original blood lineage. Through the blessing we inherit God’s ... true blood lineage." (Ibid., p. 14)

"Originally, the original sin was the result of our having received Satan’s blood ... Thus, we can be reborn through True Parents. The rebirth is ultimately accomplished through True Parents’ blood." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "We Who Are Chosen and Fortunate, Walking the Heavenly Road", Today’s World, Nov./Dec. 1994, p. 23 ).

"We all know that the only way of cutting off the blood lineage of Satan is by drinking the holy wine." (Prof. Taek Yong Oh--Unification Theological Seminary, "Hoon Dok Hoi -- A New Tradition from True Parents", Today’s World, December, 1997 p.12)

"True Parents have received the absolute Blessing from God and come as God’s physical representatives on the Earth to give that Blessing to others, changing the blood lineage from Satan to God." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "Volunteering to Save the American Family", Unification News, June, 1997, p. 4).

"Thus, it is the international holy weddings that establish this new blood lineage when the Lord of the Second Advent comes in the flesh." (Sun Myung Moon, "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation", Today’s World, May, 1996, p. 10.)

"...the only way you can be saved is by believing in Rev. Moon and receiving the marriage blessing from him." (Rev. Moon, "Let Us Fulfill the Victorious Realm of True Children", Today’s World, December 1997, p.8).

Thus the publicly-promoted Moonie marriages. Mormon marriages are not that public:

When a marriage takes place in an LDS temple, non-Mormon relatives of the couple and Mormon relatives who do not hold a "temple recommend," may not attend the ceremony....The policy is stated clearly in an official LDS manual as follows:

"Who May Attend a Temple Marriage

"Only members who have valid recommends and have received their endowment may attend a temple marriage. Couples should invite only family members and close friends to be present for a temple marriage. …

"Special Meeting for Guests, Who Do Not Have Temple Recommends

"A couple may arrange with their bishop to hold a special meeting for relatives and friends who do not have temple recommends. This meeting provides an opportunity for those who cannot enter a temple to feel included in the marriage and to learn something of the eternal nature of the marriage covenant. The meeting may include a prayer and special music, followed by the remarks of a priesthood leader. No ceremony is performed, and no vows are exchanged.

"No other marriage ceremony should be performed following a temple marriage.

"(General Handbook of Instructions, Book 1 Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics, p. 70. Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.)"

This leads to the following hypothetical story:

LDS girl meets LDS boy, and they fall in love.

LDS girl and LDS boy decide they want to get married.

In keeping with the religious faith of each, they decide they want to be married “forever” in an LDS temple sealing because anything else would be second best.

LDS girl and LDS boy announce their decision to their respective parents.

LDS boys' parents are delighted. They know that as members of the LDS Church in good standing, with LDS Temple recommends, they will be able to attend the wedding.

LDS girls' parents are emotionally shell-shocked, having been told that since they are not members of the LDS Church, they will not be allowed to attend the wedding....

Generally speaking this is where a local LDS leader gets involved in an effort to “smooth over” feelings. This LDS leader will explain what he believes regarding LDS temples, that only in them can couples be united in marriage eternally, not “until death do us part.” He will explain that while you may have raised the now LDS girl with Protestant teachings, she has embraced the LDS religion and that the highest good is to be married in an LDS temple. The non-member parents leave the meeting with a sick, sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. They don't know what to do so they turn to their local pastor. He listens and observes that he would be delighted to perform the marriage, and that all that are invited by the bride, the groom and their parents will be allowed to witness the wedding ... nobody will be excluded.

This seems sensible enough to the non-LDS parents. They meet with their daughter and soon to be son-in-law, and propose a solution to this situation. How about if they get married by the pastor and then they can go and get “sealed” in an LDS temple? That way all who are invited may attend, says the father of the bride....

At this point the father of the bride has probably told the future son-in-law that he sees this as an issue of obedience to one of the Ten Commandments, which leaves the future son-in-law a bit bewildered. All he knows is the "commandment" to "follow the (LDS) Prophet, he knows the way". The father of the girl directs the LDS boy to Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” The father then expresses for the first time his disappointment that his daughter has rejected her religious upbringing, adopted another religious faith and one that stands to divide the brides' family on the single day that they should be most united....

The seriousness of the father of the bride-to-be impresses the LDS boy, so he returns to his LDS bishop to see if there is a way out of all of this unpleasantness. The LDS bishop patiently listens and then explains the orthodox LDS position that if the young man has sufficient faith he will then trust in the words of the LDS prophets and apostles and get married and sealed for “time and all eternity” in an LDS temple. Anything else will be settling for “second best”. The LDS boy listens and decides that he is persuaded that his future father-in-law has it right, i.e. all of this boils down to a matter of whether or not he will “honor” his father-in-law or not.

It is at this point that the LDS bishop lets the “other shoe” drop and announces to LDS boy that should he get married anywhere else, even by a Justice of the Peace, he and his wife will be required to wait one year before they can go to an LDS temple and get sealed....While it is not stated, it is clearly implied that the one year wait is a means to coerce the young couple into only having a temple marriage, and if not successful, punishes them for not complying.

On the other hand, at least the Mormons can choose who they marry. The Unification Church does things a bit differently:

[June] 23Shin Kwang Nim's Birthday (5/28/2001)Day of One Heart (1989)Il-Sung Construction (1978)[June] 24Declaration of the Return of the Land to God (2000)[June] 29Ceremony of the Return of the Cosmos to Heaven (2000)

BUENOS AIRES (Reuter) - The South Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon launched a new Spanish-language newspaper for the whole of Latin America this weekend, with the backing of guest George Bush who praised Moon's respect for editorial independence.

The former U.S. president, guest speaker at a banquet late Saturday to launch Moon's new publication "Tiempos del Mundo" (Times of the World), was full of praise for the controversial evangelist's best-known newspaper, the Washington Times, and referred to Moon as "the man with the vision."

Bush then travelled with Moon to neighboring Uruguay Sunday to help him inaugurate a seminary in the capital Montevideo to train 4,200 young Japanese women to spread the word of his Church of Unification across Latin America....

"I want to salute Reverend Moon who is the founder of the Washington Times and of the new paper here," said Bush, who was reported by the Washington Post to have been paid $100,000 for his Buenos Aires appearance.

"A lot of my friends in South America don't know about the Washington Times but it is an independent voice," said Bush. "The editors of the Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington DC."

"I am convinced that Tiempos del Mundo is going to do the same thing," said Bush, who managed to avoid being photographed with the 76-year-old South Korean evangelist during his whole stay in Buenos Aires.

[C]onsider the day in April 2002 when he received the latest in a long series of earthshattering religious visions. This one was especially noteworthy. In it, Moon learned that he had been selected as "the Savior, Messiah and King of Kings of all of humanity" by God. Also on the selection committee: Jesus Christ, Mohammed, and Buddha (in addition to several others, including the godless Communists Marx and Stalin for some mysterious reason).

Anyway, that's how Moon described it in his full-page newspaper ad, which ran in papers all across the U.S. (including the Los Angeles Times). It was a $720,000 print run, but it was worth every penny. Finally middle America would get the word and rally behind their messiah. Except it was a bit of a reach. Moon's captive congregation is accustomed to his indefatigable hubris, but the general public who have yet to send their mind through the laundry just find it repugnant.

But he can't help it. Moon has been claiming for decades (like The Beatles before him) that he is bigger than Christ.

God has called prophets to lead His Church in our day, just as He did anciently. The current prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Gordon B. Hinckley. He is assisted by two counselors—Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust. Together, they make up the First Presidency of the Church (much like Peter, James, and John after Christ’s death).

All members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are apostles and prophets....

And what do the Apostles say? Well, similar to the Unification Church, they say that Christ's work was not complete:

Jesus Christ did what only He could do in atoning for our sins. To make His Atonement fully effective in our individual lives, we must have faith in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, obey God's commandments, and strive to become like Him.

One more story - way way back in the 1970s, a couple of people showed up at our door. One did the talking - the other did all the smiling. The talking one said that he was from "Christian Brothers Cleaning," and that since the work would be done by Christians, you knew that they'd do a good job. I later found out that "Christian Brothers Cleaning" operated out of a Moonie house. If nothing else, the Washington Times is a more respectable business...as is Marriott.

The Unification Church/Moon has spent billions on the paper. It has served non citizen Moon's goal of promoting a right wing political tint while he also pushed/financed the theocrats. It is not independent of his plans for the planet. Many editors and reporters have quit the paper over editorial independence. But Moon doesn't have to run the paper day to day. He simply hires people like Pruden and completely finances their opinions being pushed into the body politic. The WT has nothing to do with the free market of ideas, nothing. It is a propaganda paper created by Moon to "influence" America.

The courts in Japan have found the UC guilty swindling vast sums of money from the Japanese. Moon even makes it part of the "religion" that the Japanese, as the "Eve" nation, fund his efforts. The WP reported that 75% of Moon's money for America comes from Japan.

Moon's x daughter in law and others who have worked with the organization say the UC launders cash into the USA by the bagful.

Moon calls what he is doing the "natural subjugation of the American government and population."

Over the past quarter century, South Korean theocrat Sun Myung Moon has been one of the Bush family’s major benefactors – both politically and financially – while enjoying what appears to be protection against federal investigations into evidence that his cult-like organization has functioned as a criminal enterprise.

Indeed, the newest disclosure about Moon funneling money to a Bush family entity bears many of the earmarks of Moon’s business strategy of laundering money through a complex maze of front companies and cut-outs so it can’t be easily followed. In this case, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Moon’s Washington Times Foundation gave $1 million to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, which in turn acted as a conduit for donations to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library.

The Chronicle obtained indirect confirmation that Moon’s money was passing through the Houston foundation to the Bush library from Bush family spokesman Jim McGrath. Asked whether Moon’s $1 million had ended up there, McGrath responded, “We’re in an uncomfortable position. … If a donor doesn’t want to be identified we need to honor their privacy.”